TOOKERON EXPERIENCE

28 June 1998

After a slight delay at home with having a flat battery, I made it out to what seems to be the regular meeting place of Macdonald's at Beaudesert. Arriving a little after 9am, I was confronted with a car park full of Subarus and a large gathering of people predominantly wearing blue. After a quick cuppa, burger and a run down on the trip and convoy procedures, we were on our way.

Jeff Kesby led the convoy down the highway and then onto a few back roads. With the lack of any directional signs, Jeff did a great job of finding our way to 500 acre property called Tookeron. On arrival, the property owner greeted us, and we all paid our $10 for the use of his land. A quick car count revealed 19 cars - 16 being Subarus! Five minutes up the dirt track, we stopped for morning tea at the camping area, which was a large open field on top of a hill providing some beautiful views of the surrounding countryside. It was here that Royce discovered a loose bit going to the turbo (musician terminology - bit: object next to the thingy). Most of us ventured out while Royce and Bruce fixed up the problem, which didn't take too long.

The first section of this escapade was a series of steep downhill sections followed by even steeper ones. I was getting flashbacks of the Nanango Stagecoach route (my first ever trip) although this time I felt a bit more comfortable with having the lift kit in this time. It was on the downhill sections I discovered that I was going to have continual problems throughout the day with my car frequently stalling. I thought it may have been a dirty fuel filter, but have since been informed that Subaru carbies don't like certain angles. Neither do I for that matter! The worst was yet to come....

Coming out of the descent and a small section of reasonably level ground the convoy faced a large and rugged looking hill. For the more experienced members in the club, it didn't present too much of a worry to them. I for one was not looking forward tackling this mighty hill. So I started looking for a chicken track and found one! Although the track wasn't as rough it was a bit steeper, especially at the top. It just so happens that all the loose dirt was up there as well and the old 1600 single range with road tyres was probably not the right vehicle for the job at hand. After two attempts, half a clutch and much cursing, I turned back knowing I had to attempt the first hill instead. It was unfortunate for me that the chicken track was more like a big rooster.

Author in action !

Unfortunate. This kind of word I usually associate with something happening to another person. I wish it could have stayed that way but today was different. After seeing the majority of the cars up the top of the hill, it was my turn to tackle the beast. After a quick puff of smoke (both in and out the car) I was away, stereo cranked (testing my installation of the CD shuttle) and adrenaline pumping. I zipped up the hill bouncing away doing fine, until one particular 'bounce'. Both myself and the car were momentarily airborne and came both down with a large bang. -the CD player skipped at this stage, right at the same time I bent the drivers side rim and have since discovered, part of the suspension arm (I thought I only needed a wheel alignment!)

I wasn't the only casualty at this point, with Bruce Ottway puncturing his tyre. With the help of Arnold Schoemaker's engineering ability, a big hammer, and an air compressor, I was back on the road again ….. or was that off the road again? The convoy proceeded up and down a few more hills and Royce provided on-the-spot training with one particularly steep downhill, walking beside some of the inexperienced peoples' cars (me) as they descended. That was until he got a whiff of the bad odour coming from within the cabin and then let them go the rest of the way themselves. After completing this circuit we went back to the main camping ground for lunch and for some of us, toilet breaks.

After lunch, some of the convoy departed from the main group and headed home while the rest of us continued exploring the property. We encountered more hills, large rocks (which I was busy removing for Trent's Liberty), small trees and shrubs. I got stuck again going up another hill and was towed out by Rob Peters. Some of the tracks that were marked on the map were not always easy to find so a couple of wrong turns came about. But that's what exploring is all about isn't it!

A bit after 4pm we decided to call it a day and head for home, despite Dave Martin wanting to do a night run. The Easy/Medium rating was changed to Medium/Hard and a few people had a go at trip leader Jeff Kesby, all in good fun though. Thanks goes to Jeff for organising a great day and to those who helped out we inexperienced drivers.

Every trip I have been on so far, I have learned something new and been put in different challenging situations. The Tookeron Experience was no different.

David Freeman SC447